Timepiece movement



March 5, 1940. R. PUTHOD TIMEPIECE MOVEMENT Filed Dec. 23, 1958 liee/ZEWCII Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES TIMEPIECE MOVEMENT Roger Puthcd,Schaffhausen, Switzerland, as-

signor to E. Homberger-Rauschcnbach vormals International SwitzerlandWatch Co.,

Schaffhausen,

Application December 23, 1938, Serial No. 247,531 In Switzerland Juney9, 1938 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a timepiece movement, and more particularly toa movement for small timepieces, such as pocket watches, wrist watches,and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a timepiece movement havinga secondsy hand in the center thereof, while preserving the usualdisposition or" the wheel train of ordinary Watch movements, and withoutincreasing the total height of the movement. In known Watch movementswith a seconds hand it was necessary, `owing to the provision of theseconds pinion in the central axis, to increase the height of themovement with respect to` an ordinary watch movement Without a secondshand in the center thereof, or else a specially designed wheel train hadto be adopted in which the usual center wheel was laterally offset inorder to make room for placing the seconds pinion in the central axiswithout increasing the height of the movement.

The invention consists in the provision of a center wheel mounted on theminute-hand sleeve and provided with a cavity in the central portionthereof, into which cavity extends a bearing bracket carried by thecenter bridge and supporting the minute hand sleeve, so that a secondspinion can be inserted in the space formed between the bearing bracketand the bridge and mounted on the seconds-hand spindle which is guidedin a bearing carried by the bridge. Owing to the provision of the cavityin the center wheel, it is possible to lodge the seconds pinion in thecenter axis together with a center wheel, Without requiring any increaseof the height oi the movement and while preserving the usual dispositionof the wheel train.

The invention further consists of the arrangement and construction ofparts as will be described hereinafter, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a Iplan view of a watch movement according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a section along the broken line l-II of Fig. l, drawn to alarger scale; and

Figure 3 is a section throughl a modication.

In the drawing, P indicates the movement plate to which is secured thedial Z. and M indicates the center bridge. The spring barrel l mesheswith the pinion 2r oi' the center wheel Z which is rigid with thespindle 3 of the minute hand m. h designates the hour hand. The centerwheel 'f2 meshes with the pinion 4r ci the intermediate wheel Il, andthis latter drives the pinion 51' of the seconds wheel 5, which in turnmeshes with the pinion I4 of the escapement wheel l5. This wheel trainis accordingly arranged as usual in normal watch movements, and thespindle 5a of the seconds wheel 5 is situated as in any ordinarymovement between the center and the number six on the dial.

The center wheel 2 is depressed in its central portion so as to presenta cavity 2a into which' extends a bearing bracket 6 formed integrallywith the bridge M and arranged to guide the upper end of the spindle ofthe minute hand m, this spindle being moreover guided in the movementplate P. A bearing plate 8, disposed concentrically with the spindleaxis, is sunk into the center bridge M and secured thereto by means oitwo screws '1. The bearing plate carries a pervforated jewel i6 in whichthe pivot of a seconds hand spindle il is guided. The lower end of thisspindle extends through a` ring l which is forced into the bore of theminute hand spindle 3. An additional seconds pinion Il is carried on thespindle 9 in the space formed between the bearing bracket 6 and theplate 8. This pinion Il meshes with the intermediate wheel 4 whichpenetrates through a slotprovided between the body of the bridge M andthe bracket 6. For this reason, the wheel 4 is disposed above the centerwheel 2 and its diameter is chosen so that it can mesh simultaneouslywith the seconds pinion Il and with the pinion r of the seconds wheel 5.A spring washer I2 is inserted between the pinion Il and the bracket 6for the purpose of taking up the play which is present in the gears. Inorder to reduce the friction of this spring washer, a thin steel disc isengaged on the spindle Si of the seconds hand and makes contact with thespring washer and with one face .of the pinion Il.

Figure 3 shows an arrangement for very small watch movements in whichthe minute hand spindle 3 cannot be made of a size suiiicient to providethe necessary shoulders acting as stop against axial thrust. In thiscase two collars I2' are forced on the spindle 3 on either side of thecenter wheel pinion 2r, these collars forming the required. thrustsurfaces.

It is seen that in a watch movement yaccording to the invention. it ispossible to place a seconds hand s in the center of the movement orbetween the center and the number six of the dial, on the spindle 5a,without making any changes in the disposition of the wheel train, or, ifdesired, two seconds hands can be mounted simultaneously in the centerand .on the spindle 5a, respectively.

Owing to the provision of the cavity 2a in the center Wheel, theadditional seconds pinion Il does not require an increase of the heightof the movement with respect to an ordinary watch movement yWithout aseconds hand in the center.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my improvedwatch movement, it is to be understood, that minor changes may be madein the construction and disposition of the parts thereof withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

l. In a timepiece movement having a time train for transmitting movementfrom a driving member to time indicting members, a sleeve carrying oneof the wheels of said time train, a spindle extending through saidsleeve, a bridge carrying one end of said spindle, said Wheel on thesleeve being provided with a cavity in the central portion thereof, abracket carried by said bridge and extending into said cavity in spacedrelationship with the bridge, said bracket supporting one end of saidsleeve, and a pinion mounted on said spindle and being disposed betweensaid bracket and the bridge.

2. A timepiece movement comprising a driving member, time indicatingmeans, a time train transmitting movement from the driving member tosaid time indicating means, a minutehand sleeve, a seconds-hand spindleextending through said sleeve, a bridge supporting one end of theseconds-hand spindle, one of the wheels of said time train being mountedon the minutehand sleeve, said Wheel being provided with a cavity in thecentral portion thereof, a bracket carried by said bridge and extendinginto said cavity in spaced relation to the bridge, said bracketsupporting one end of the minute-hand sleeve, and a seconds pinioncarried by said secondshand spindle and dispose in the space betweensaid bracket and the bridge.

3. A timepiece movement comprising a minute-hand sleeve, a central wheelon said sleeve,

an intermediate wheel driven by said central wheel, a seconds wheeldriven by said intermediate Wheel, a seconds-hand spindle extendingthrough the minute-hand sleeve, a bridge carryng one end of saidspindle, the central wheel being provided with a cavity in the centralportion thereof, a bracket integral with said bridge and extending intosaid cavity in spaced relationship with the bridge, said bracketsupporting one end of the minute-hand sleeve, and a seconds pinionmounted on the seconds-hand spindle and disposed in the space formedbetween said racket and the bridge, said seconds pinion meshing with theintermediate wheel.

4. A timepiece movement comprising a minute-hand sleeve, a central Wheelon said sleeve, an intermediate wheel driven by said central wheel, aseconds Wheel driven by said intermediate wheel, a seconds-hand spindleextending through said minute-hand sleeve, a wheel bridge, a bearingplate secured to the bridge, a perforated jewel carried by said plateand receiving one end of said seconds-hand spindle, the central wheelbeing formed with a cavity in the central portion thereof, a bracketintegral with the bridge and extending into said cavity in spacedrelationship with the bridge, said bracket supporting one end of theminute-hand sleeve, and a seconds pinion on the seconds-hand spindle anddisposed in the space formed between said bracket an the bridge, saidseconds pinion meshing with the intermediate wheel.

5. A timepiece movement as defined in claim 3, in which a spring washeris inserted between the seconds pinion and said sleeve supportingbracket. g 1

6. A timepiece movement as dened in claim 3, comprising a central pinionon said minutehand sleeve and thrust collars forced on the sleeve oneither side of said central pinion.

ROGER PUTHOD.

